Patient Safety Strategies

Healthcare facilities continue to adopt best-of-kind ideas to improve overall patient safety to achieve a secure environment. Determining strategic efforts from a facility requires commitment from the entire staff, board, and providers. The healthcare industry has an overwhelming number of rules and regulations in place that tracking and reporting become critical to identify patient care. Beginning with provider credentialing, privileging, enrollment, and performance to monitoring patient safety and care.

As the footprint of healthcare expands beyond office visits and hospitals to telemedicine; compliance with patient safety is increasingly a concern. To ensure the quality and safety of patient treatment, The Joint Commission (TJC) accredits and certifies hospitals and healthcare systems. Similar to TJC, the National Association for Healthcare Quality (NAHQ) supports health plans and credentialing verifications.

Building the Foundation for Patient Safety

Refining Reporting

Developing a structured protocol for reporting incidents is vital for improving patient safety, along with staffing awareness. Some may fear that reporting exposes weakness. However, incidents create opportunities for improvement. Healthcare facilities need a quality structure for creating clear, concise reporting to develop a safe environment.

• Communicate opportunities for growth
• Develop an open reporting system
• Identify issues with solutions and transparency
• Provide opportunities for additional feedback from staff and patients for improvements
• Stay consistent with reporting

Patient-Centered Care

The patient’s perspective of effective communication with their medical needs will provide advanced insights into patient care. Defining the health needs and desired health outcomes for patients are the driving force behind the quality performance. Patient intelligence helps identify shortcomings in processes. With a few minor adjustments, these insights and shortcomings can improve patient safety and quality care. Taking the time to listen to the patient’s needs will increase patient satisfaction, too.

Data Management

Data management for patient safety is critical for compliance. A secure, robust system that provides workflows, checklists, provider, and patient information in one centralized location, will enhance patient safety, standards, and policies. Having the capabilities to sync EMR (electronic medical records) and provider for effective reporting, audits, and peer review practices will improve patient outcomes and monitoring. Advanced reporting features that also provide detailed and charted information will assist in quickly acknowledging red flags to address them timelier.

Reputation Accountability

By developing a culture of continuous improvement among all healthcare staff, valuable information can be gained. However, the tactic only works if participants are aware that even seemingly insignificant improvements can have a significant effect. Encourage staff to speak up when protocols for policies, procedures, and patient care are at risk. Allow staff to report safety issues for the betterment of the facility and healthcare industry. Moreover, provide a non-judgment zone for staff feedback. Developing a culture of transparency, ownership, and pride in the workplace allows for success.

MD-Staff and MD-Stat provide a single-source, robust database for processing provider applications, enrollment, peer reviews, and more! Let us help you increase your patient safety.